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Temporarily shacked up in Puerto Vallarta with his girlfriend, a cosmetic surgery victim who wears "a perpetual expression of parched exhilaration," Willy takes his rage out on everyone around him, including himself. In fact, he waxes almost loving about his own physical decay--his skin with its "ancient, battered look of fried liver," ears with "a violet tinge at their curly edges, like exotic salad leaves," sagging belly gazing up at him "like an affectionate haggis." There are certainly pleasures to be found in this particular brand of literary nastiness, although Willy does pick some rather large and stationary targets: agents, facelifts, pretentious directors with German accents, and so on. Happily, debut novelist Zoe Heller has something larger in mind than the spectacle of a man savaging everything hateful in reach, and the book undergoes a subtle shift in tone midway through.
The medium is Sadie's diary, delivered to Willy's door four months after her death. Written in a style as straightforward and affecting as Willy's is blustering and cruel, it describes a childhood of Dickensian loneliness and an adult life ruled by a heartbreaking--and unsuccessful--search for love. At first Willy can't read without feeling "terrible, fluttery pains" in his gut. Later, however, the diary elicits what is--at least in Willy's terms--a kind of moral thaw. "Only when you die do you run out of chances to be good. Until then, there is always the possibility of turning yourself around," his accountant tells him, and amazingly, Willy pays heed. (Fortunately, for those of us who have come to enjoy his misanthropy, not too much heed; to the bitter end, he can't help noting of his former sister-in-law, "Boy, did her arse get big.") It's a mark of Heller's skill that we never stop caring about Willy, no matter how repulsive he seems; half victim, half perpetrator, half German, half Jew, he muddles through life with a moral passivity that might resemble our own. Everything You Know is a sharp, stylish, and wickedly funny first novel, but like its hero, it has real sadness concealed underneath. --Mary Park
"An acerbic, sneakily touching novel...Heller may be an assiduously unsentimental novelist, but she knows where the heartstrings are when she needs them...She can be nimble, hilarious. She has a shrewd ear for dialogue and conjures a terrific cast of supporting characters."
-- Jeff Giles, New York Times
"Delightfully black-hearted...Not since Flannery O' Connor has a woman writer come along who seems to so thoroughly understand the greasy inner cogs of the male psyche, especially where matters of sex are concerned."
-- Jim Haner, Baltimore Sun
"A splendid ventriloquist...Her treatment is usually light and assured--and often extremely funny...Above all, Everything You Know is a highly accomplished first novel, suggesting even better things to come."
-- Wayne Daniels, Boston Book Review
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: New. Everything You Know Brand new item sourced directly from publisher. Packed securely in tight packaging to ensure no damage. Shipped from warehouse on same/next day basis. Seller Inventory # 1111-9780141039992
Book Description Soft Cover. Condition: new. Seller Inventory # 9780141039992
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Brand New. 208 pages. 7.64x5.08x0.75 inches. In Stock. Seller Inventory # zk014103999X
Book Description Condition: New. Dieser Artikel ist ein Print on Demand Artikel und wird nach Ihrer Bestellung fuer Sie gedruckt. The women in Willy Muller s life are trouble. His mother insists he eat tofu. His dopey girlfriend, Penny, wants him to overcome his personal space issues - while Karen, his other, even dopier, girlfriend, just wants more sex. Meanwhile, his oldest daughter. Seller Inventory # 594371446